Third Siege of Armatron
Date: Decembras 3rd to Janus 21st Decembras 3rd, Victory+Tuchanka Day-4 years. As the war rages on, the battle-ravaged factory city of Armatron, the new capital of the Forge, had already been attacked several times, and felt the strain of the war. Buildings ruined, entire factory lines annihilated and the constant prevalence of military forces and defenses kept the civilians still in the city always apprehensive and on edge. But not once had the city ever slipped completely out of human control, and now that the Forge had taken over the defenders had taken on a fresh wave of reinforcements and organization. The Krogan Alliance realized that, with the Forge on the rise and FDI taking to the front, the war was in danger of actually being lost, especially with several other human victories of recent times. They needed to take down the Forge, and the best way to do that was to strike at Armatron, and finally raze the city to the ground. Background By the end of the sixth year, the massive conflict had been swinging like a pendulum in favor of the human inhabitants of the Eridanus system. The first planet had been reclaimed, the war on Mortis had finally broken and pushed out of the cities and the skirmishes on Frost had essentially ended almost all Alliance involvement on the iceball. With every win, no matter how pyrrhic, FDI grew more and more confident, and their weaponry continued to become more and more lethal. Volunteers were eagerly signing up for a government that could actually win, and things looked on the upside. The Krogan Alliance, meantime, was beginning to unravel. Already, the unggoy homeworld of Balao tried to pull out twice, resulting in large casualties across the Aralakh system before any human had ever entered. On the war front, politics was getting in the way or war, with various battlemasters and warlords already carving out little fiefdoms for themselves, attacking anyone or anything that entered their new territory. The Alliance had to strike to get the horde motivated again. And the best way to do that was to take out Armatron, thus eliminating the Forge's leadership. In his fortress of Vinter City, Warlord Grentz watched the data coming in apprehensively. Though the capital city was battered and beaten, it was still a force to reckon with. Having phased out all the outdated equipment from the previous Armatron Ltd. regime, FDI had a clean, organized defense across the board, with a large contingent of troops, tanks and aircraft to defend the half-ruined foundry. The force to take on this city would have to divert the large defensive works to slam into the city. In Armatron, Major General Zakov knew that the capital was a vulnerable target, not just for political sensitivities, but also for its still-functioning factory line, spitting out weapons, bullets, tanks and planes. Even the Armatron Anchorage was assembling ships for the Fleet, making the city a pivotal part of the reinforcement que across the system. At all costs, the city could not fall, no matter what. Force Composition 'The Forge' Thanks to the last two sieges, the city's Defense Force garrison had been reduced by quite a large margin, though the Forge had only fought in the Second Siege. To make matters worse, the Viery War up north had turned into a meat grinder, forcing General Zakov to give up what troops he could spare...which wasn't much. The key part of the defensive line aside from the assortment of turrets, cannons and mounted artillery around the city was the 40th Infantry Division, made up of around ten-thousand various infantry soldiers and supported by a company of Manticore anti-air tanks. While most of their vehicles were Knights and Mules to transport soldiers around, they also had the 124th Mechanized brigade, battered from the Viery War and having just come down south for repairs and reinforcement, which possessed a handful of tanks, ICVs, battlesuits and a substantial battery of Claymore howitzers. The airfield was miraculously intact from the sieges, and as such was used to service many aircraft on long-range bombing runs and raids, leaving a large contingent of air forces in the city. While the 780th Gunship Wing was attached to the 40th, the airfield also played host to the 10th Bomber Company and the 31st Fighter Division, consisting of around 60 Valhalla bombers and over 300 Nimbus fighters, 120 Banshee ground attack craft and several dozen Hunchback dropships. No one had expected it, but the fleet in orbit over the city played an enormous part in the battle to come, and the Armatron Anchorage was a crucial part. Warlord Grentz had ordered it be captured intact in order to not only use its shipbuilding facility for the Alliance, but to also bring reinforcements straight down the space elevator into Armatron without being vulnerable to anti-air attacks. The Eridanus IV Defense Flotilla was one of the strongest in the system, made up of a full contingent of gunboats, battlecruisers, destroyers, frigates and even the supercarrier Sky Warden. ''The station itself had several wings of Typhoon interceptors to couple with the detachment from the fleet, and its missile launchers and railcannons could fend off light capital ships. Onboard, the 4th Marine Regiment was stationed to provide security, and it was never expected that the Alliance would get through to the station to challenge them. 'Alliance Forces' Warlord Grentz knew that, with the Viery War up north raging on, his resources were rather stretched. He had to worry about holding his current territory not only from the humans, but also from rival krogan battlemasters. Six years in, and the krogans' easy victory was turning into a horrible slaughter. The horde was beginning to have difficulties, and some were beginning to turn their rifles on each other. To that end, he had to depend on his own warriors, rather than ask for roces from other regions. Part of his personal retinue were vicious Berzerkurs, warriors without compare that harnessed their rage to slam into human soldiers, even able to compete with FDI Shock Troopers. With these elite warriors in hand, they led the way before a main body of almost sixty-thousand Warriors and Grunts, backed by Triton exosuits and over a hundred Tomkhas. While brumaks would normally be attached to provide heavy support, the lumbering creatures were not sent with the vanguard force, instead having to follow along for later reinforcements. Instead, to facilitate hard firepower and fast attack power, Grentz dispatched most of his Mantis craft, leaving overall command of the attack force in the claws of their leader, ace pilot Yilnow, who had shot down a record two-hundred human craft over the course of the war, also surviving six crashes of his own. These Mantises used many different variants and loadouts, from gunship to fighter craft to even a bomber, giving the Alliance air forces a multi-role capability with a simple visit to an airfield. The Alliance Navy, like the Forge Fleet, depended on squadrons of light ships backed by heavyweight cornerstones. Warlord Grentz used every favor he could pull in order to call in a longtime ally of his, Fleetmaster Ranvur of the clan Urdnot. Ranvur was a quite capable naval commander, and had never lost his own flagship the ''Bernmoth, a large Thresher class dreadnought. At his disposal was a large contingent of ships, numbering into one of the largest fleets in the Alliance Navy. 60 Trotbeck destroyers, 28 Canarvil cruisers and dozens of Mantus craft, in various models. This fleet had crushed numerous human contingents and destroyed half a dozen cities across various planets, even assisting in the original occupation of Eridanus I. If any fleet could break through the Anchorage, it would be Ranvur's. The fleet also had its own boarding contingent of several thousand warriors, primed and ready to take the elevator. No unggoy here, these were all veteran krogan Warriors armed with the last six years of experience in fighting humans, and their aptitude for close-quarters battle made them even deadlier as marines. The stage seemed all set for an Alliance victory to finally crush Armatron, and with it, Eridanus IV. With the Viery War raging, a victory at Armatron would spell the end of the Forge, and the system would finally belong to the mighty krogan. Wall Crashers Given the defense oriented nature of FDI and the attack style Alliance, it seemed like besieging Armatron might wind up in an impasse. Category:Battles